Lee Named Senior Technology Advisor At UB

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- George C. Lee, Ph.D., director of the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research and Samuel P. Capen Professor of Engineering at the University at Buffalo, has been named Senior University Advisor for Technology by UB President William R. Greiner.

Lee, former dean of the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, will serve as advisor to the president and provost regarding opportunities for UB to expand its presence in technological development and technology transfer and to form new technology-related partnerships.

"Professor Lee's extensive familiarity with national and international technology issues and the global environment for technological innovation has been -- and continues to be -- an exceptional resource for UB," said Greiner.

"His leadership in establishing NCEER and formulating our current infrastructure initiative has led to enormous advances for the university, as have his international initiatives and his commitment to community partnerships in research and service. By building on this base, as senior university advisor for technology, he will provide UB with key support as we continue to develop new partnerships here in the Niagara Region and around the world."

Lee retired July 1 as dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, a position in which he had served since 1977. He has been a member of the UB faculty since 1961.

His research has covered a wide spectrum of basic and applied fields, ranging from earthquake engineering to modeling of the mechanics behavior of biological systems.

Presently, Lee is developing a software/hardware system, based on principles governing human body motions and control, that would allow structures to self-adjust to withstand vibrations caused by earthquakes and other dynamic forces.

Lee was instrumental in bringing NCEER to UB in 1986, and from April 1989 to September 1990 served as the center's acting director. He was named director of NCEER in 1992.

In 1994, he was named director of the UB Greater Regional Industrial Technology Program, or UB GRIT, a project designed to help area businesses develop new products in cooperation with regional research universities. Also in 1994, he founded the Engineering Career Institute (ECI), a summer program designed to supplement the technical education that UB engineering students receive, while providing local companies with skilled interns who often help boost efficiency and cut costs.

In 1980, Lee launched Buffalo Engineering Awareness for Minorities (BEAM), a major effort to encourage minority students to pursue careers in engineering. Since then, BEAM has reached more than 1,000 middle and high-school students and today involves several dozen Western New York industries and schools.

Lee played a central role in the formation of the Calspan-University at Buffalo Research Center (CUBRC), a partnership that today conducts $7 million of research annually.

A native of China, Lee received a bachelor's degree from National Taiwan University. He holds a master's degree and a doctorate in civil engineering from Lehigh University. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation's Superior Accomplishment Award, as well as an Engineering Achievement Award from the Chinese Institute of Engineers.

He belongs to a number of honorary societies, including Chi Epsilon, Tau Beta Pi, and the Society of Sigma Xi, and is a member of the American Society for Engineering Education and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

Lee lives in Amherst.